datarock

Is Karin Dreijer Andersson the electroclash equivalent of Eddie Vedder?

Lets break it down…

Both singers have haunting and dynamic voices that commanded attention when they first emerged as artists and continue to demand attention even if they are not hit machines anymore. Both have spawned many imitators. Yet perhaps it is in this area that a distinction can be made between KDA and Vedder. While Vedder’s imitators tend to be Christians, or dudes who stand with their guitars as if riding on horseback cajoling their herd back into the pen, KDA’s offspring tend to pay homage to her vocal style by staying true to the residual “weirdness” that makes melodies so alluring and attractive. Perhaps it’s the geography?…

One such version is Norway’s Karin Park.

Once a popstar in her native country, she has recently released a darker and more aggressive new album titled Ashes to Gold, produced by Fredrik Saroea of Datarock fame. Listen to Can’t Stop Nowon her myspace page and ask yourself, would you want your moneyback?

Possibly my least productive day bandwise. I saw only 8 of them….. And I still can’t remember what I was doing between noon and 2pm. Everything else has come back to me.

SXSW has always been about meeting people. I met Sue while on the plane from Denver to Austin last monday. We talked for most of the flight, finding striking similarities between me and my twin brother and her two sons (twins as well), both of which were working in the music industry in Austin. As well, one is currently managing the infamous Daniel Johnston. *You might need to go rent this if you’ve never heard of him. Through High Wire Music and the help of a killer street team (nice work kids), they put together a solid showcase in town that day. I saw Daniel play. Great show, the crowd agreed.

Jumping backward, I’d like to mention seeing Loney, Dear perform at the team Clermont party. It was a perfect show for that part in the day. I found a good spot right by a circular fan. The room was dead quiet. I couldn’t help thinking about a folkier version of the Bee-Gees in his sound. Really nice songs, you can find a hell of a lot of them here, check out I Am John.
After dinner a bunch of us jumped around quite a bit. Saw Montreal’s Besnard Lakes at the Mohawk and Lo Fi Fnk from the alley way behind The Beauty Bar Patio. Really liked Cloud Cult‘s performance at Emo JR’s featuring two live painters on stage.

Champion had people dancing like crazy making me wonder if the patio at Maggie Mae’s could support the jumping. Datarock were a nice surprise as well.

Menomena was a highlight as well, but I’m going to hold off on writing about them just yet. Tomorrow night I’m off to see them, Field Music and Land Of Talk at the El Mo. Great lineup.